


All the Things You Are

by teamfreeawesome



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, flangst, is flangst a thing?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-10
Updated: 2013-08-10
Packaged: 2017-12-23 01:29:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/920408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teamfreeawesome/pseuds/teamfreeawesome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Love is experienced differently, but no less intensely, by both of them</p>
            </blockquote>





	All the Things You Are

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alexattherockshow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexattherockshow/gifts).



> Thank you to my wonderful beta (and best friend) Alex, who managed to wrangle this into something mistake free - and who also advised on the title after I forgot that this would even need one :) 
> 
> Any mistakes that are spotted are mine (and are probably due to formatting issues, which may have made me cry a little bit). 
> 
> Disclaimer: This is not true. It's a work of fiction and no harm was meant by the writing of this. To me: fanfiction One Direction are fictional characters. I don’t, in any way, equate the stories to their real-life counter parts, because they aren’t the same people. Also, please, nobody send this to anyone included in this fic or anyone that they know.
> 
> Feedback is seriously, absolutely appreciated <3

Liam is all warmth and sunlight and bare skin

                and Zayn equates happy with the smell of Liam’s body wash and the worn softness of Liam’s t-shirts; associates tranquil with the snug fit of Liam against his chest and the feel of him beneath his palms, heartbeat soft and content.

 

Being with Liam is like being wrapped in sleep; it’s soft and sweet and slow and Zayn can’t get enough - feels full to the brim with tender. He spends afternoons watching Liam’s fingers gently curl into the sheets; listens to his quiet, tired snuffles and Zayn can’t stop the indulgent clutch of love he breathes out over Liam’s back; the careful press of a kiss into his skin, a brand of affection and delight.

 

But.

 

The thing that gets Zayn the most – catches him in the chest like a blow, leaving him breathless and reeling – is how _fragile_ his Liam is. Liam gives and gives and is so _kind_. He’s empathy and sympathy and sweet all wrapped up inside this delicate, _breakable_ heart.

See, Liam is so _strong_ \- but the pointed, vicious hatred that they receive daily can rip him apart; shatters him and leaves him broken and bleeding on their bedroom floor. Because Liam _is_ compassion and warmth and it doesn’t take much to claw through that; to reach deep and attack the very core of him. So Zayn holds Liam’s heart cautiously – fondly and tenderly – because despite the fact the Liam’s love is so freely given, Zayn knows that Liam fears heartbreak more than most.

 

Zayn holds Liam’s love tight to his chest, wraps it in his arms, and battles to keep it safe. Because Liam is vulnerable and naïve and _sweet_ and the venom that gets thrown on stage with them - the poison that gets shouted daily - rattles around, knocks against Zayn’s carefully constructed walls and kicks at Liam’s confidence like a punch. But Zayn fights and he fights and he hides the worst of it from Liam because he _can_ and because he _wants_. He wants to protect Liam from the hurt and the pain - and if anybody, anywhere ever makes his Liam cry, then Zayn will watch as the world _burns_.

 

*

 

Zayn is all poetry and cigarette smoke and affection in the dark

                and Liam thinks that Zayn is like the moon. He’s essential and always; obvious and intense -and a reflection of everything good he’s ever encountered. But it hurts Liam when he realises - in those quiet, secluded moments away from the rush of performing and singing and _talking_ – that Zayn doesn’t quite believe in his own brilliance.

 

So Liam kisses Zayn’s _intense_ ; shows him his _bright_ ; shares his _endearing_ ; loves his _secrets_ and adores his _cute_. Liam touches and kisses and _tells_ ; uses his words to describe everything Zayn is, everything he makes Liam - until Zayn breathes in and softens, allows himself to _believe_ , even if just for a moment.

 

Zayn is resolute and passionate and Liam thinks he’s like a flame; he burns Liam up inside with so much intensity that Liam can take on the entire _world_ if Zayn is holding his hand. He feels like his love is so big – so _vast_ – that his skin can’t contain it. He sheds streaks of delight with every breath and his cheeks feel stretched wide with his smile. Zayn bathes Liam’s life in a glow of _good_ and Liam couldn’t stop the happy bubbling out even if he wanted to.

 

But.

 

When Zayn hurts - when the foul barbs are slung - Liam feels the sting too. He aches deep in his soul and it’s all he can do to not curl into a ball on stage and sob. Every nasty word aimed at his Zayn feels like another bruise to his heart. Zayn is his anchor and his rock and his _everything_ \- and hurting Zayn hurts Liam too.

Liam knows that Zayn doesn’t tell him everything; he knows that he keeps some of the malice back, absorbs it into himself to protect Liam. But each new thing that Liam is saved from punches deeper into Zayn’s self-doubt. So Liam works and works – with his hands, with his mouth, with his body – to show Zayn how loved he is. He sings and he breathes and he touches love into Zayn’s skin – because his Zayn should never think he’s anything other than _perfect_.

 

And Liam. Liam wants to burrow deep into Zayn; wants to lie there, soft and warm, pillowed in everything Zayn is. Because Zayn is safety and happiness and wonder - and Liam wouldn’t trade him for the world. 

**Author's Note:**

> um... you can find me on Tumblr under the same username, if you would like :)


End file.
